Chapter 209: Chapter 208: Hunting

'An Opening!'

Kakashi Hatake didn't open his eyes, but as a true genius who had experienced the Great Ninja War, his keen intuition for battle opportunities had already been ingrained in his very bones.

When you feel it's the right moment to strike, that moment is indeed the best time.

Kakashi had that confidence.

As his thoughts surged, the sealing technique Tsunade had preemptively placed within his body was broken, and chakra surged through him. He raised one hand, and a rapidly spinning ball of chakra appeared in his palm.

—Rasengan!

No hand signs, single-handed activation—there was no ninjutsu more suitable for a surprise attack than this.

As the disciple of Minato Namikaze, Kakashi naturally knew how to use the Rasengan, though he lacked the innate talent to incorporate the nature transformation of "lightning" into it, which is why he seldom used it.

But even a half-complete Rasengan was enough for this moment.

Boom!

The Rasengan slammed into Obito Uchiha's chest. Caught off guard, Obito was sent flying, with several of his ribs snapping in the process.

"Damn…"

Obito's back crashed into a large tree. Realizing he was caught in an ambush, he didn't have time to wonder, "How did Konoha discover my secret?" Kamui was already activated.

As long as he entered the Kamui dimension, any ambush would be rendered meaningless.

The spiral distortion of space appeared, expanding from Obito's right eye to envelop his entire body, about to draw him completely into the other dimension.

This was Obito's gravest mistake that night.

Kamui from the right eye had two primary functions: the first was intangibility, where the body in the outside world was merely a "shadow," and the portion within the Kamui dimension was the true entity; the second was absorption, which allowed the transfer of objects or people, including himself, into the Kamui dimension.

The second method was undoubtedly the safest escape route, but compared to the usual intangibility, it had one fatal flaw—it was too slow!

Slow enough that, at the moment Obito began using Kamui, Orochimaru lunged at him.

Swish—

Orochimaru's neck extended unnaturally, moving at a terrifying speed. His jaws separated, his teeth turning razor-sharp, and in the blink of an eye, he crossed dozens of meters, sinking his fangs into Obito's back.

A strange chakra injected from his teeth surged into Obito's body.

The searing pain made Obito's chakra go out of control, disrupting his Kamui. He fell to one knee, his face twisted in agony.

Orochimaru's neck retracted like a spring, but even then, his teeth remained embedded in Obito's back, dragging the rest of his body forward. He planted a foot on Obito to hold him down.

Fugaku Uchiha and Hiruzen Sarutobi appeared simultaneously. Hiruzen used his adamantine staff to press down on Obito's cervical vertebrae, while Fugaku grabbed his neck and removed Obito's mask, revealing the scarred right side of his face.

"So, it really is you, Obito…" Fugaku pursed his lips, but as a seasoned Jonin, he knew better than to let an opportunity slip.

The three tomoe in his Sharingan spun rapidly. Fugaku poured all his ocular power and chakra into it, casting his most powerful genjutsu.

Obito trembled, ceasing his struggles.

"It was even easier than I thought… You were too careless, Obito Uchiha." Orochimaru slowly stood up, his golden snake-like eyes coldly surveying the young man pinned to the ground by two powerful shinobi.

"Orochimaru, what technique did you just use?" Hiruzen formed hand signs, preparing a sealing jutsu while curiously inquiring.

"Just a little trick called [Cursed Seal]. During my years away from the village, I found some individuals with special constitutions. One of them was a newborn child who could unconsciously absorb natural energy, mixing it into their chakra to produce an uncontrollable force… somewhat akin to Sage Mode."

"Looking at Obito's condition, the Cursed Seal isn't as wonderful as you make it sound."

"It's a prototype after all, only able to create special chakra. Besides throwing a shinobi's body into chaos, it's quite useless, heh…"

"Disrupting chakra to prevent him from using his ocular techniques, huh? That's exactly the kind of thing I'd expect from you, Orochimaru."

Hiruzen's hands stopped as he completed the complex sealing hand signs.

However, just as he was about to press the seal onto Obito, something unexpected occurred.

Obito's legs suddenly moved.

With immense core strength, he twisted his body, simultaneously kicking Orochimaru and Hiruzen away.

"Fugaku, what…" Hiruzen shouted, but then he saw Fugaku grunt as well, being knocked back into the cemetery.

The Uchiha Clan Head's genjutsu had been broken.

"We can't let him recover! If we can't capture him alive, then kill him now!" Orochimaru roared, stomping hard on the ground as he charged back into the fray.

Hiruzen and Fugaku regained control of their bodies and returned to the battlefield.

During this time, all three skilled shinobi noticed the hand grasping Obito's ankle.

—No wonder the genjutsu was dispelled; it turned out he had an ally lurking underground!

"Obito, wake up!" Zetsu, with his black and white halves, emerged from the ground. As he spoke, a jutsu was activated, and countless tiny spores appeared on the three Konoha shinobi, and started absorbing chakra while rapidly swelling. Though not highly lethal, they successfully slowed them down.

"I'm fine… Damn Konoha and Kakashi…" Obito clutched his back, his expression twisted in rage.

"As long as you're okay, hurry up and leave!"

"We're too close to them; there's no time to warp my whole body into the Kamui dimension." Obito coldly eyed the three approaching Konoha shinobi, speaking each word with icy precision:

"Besides, even if I could, I wouldn't run… I'm going to kill them all tonight!"

"Are you insane…"

"Hiruzen Sarutobi is old, Fugaku Uchiha isn't worth mentioning, and there's only Orochimaru left. I'll cripple Konoha tonight, so capturing the Nine-Tails later will be much easier."

Obito took a deep breath, his gaze sweeping over the three shinobi's faces before finally settling on Kakashi Hatake standing in the cemetery:

"Kakashi, my eye—how does it work for you?"

The white-haired youth's eyes dimmed; he didn't respond to his former friend's words. Instead, he raised a kunai, holding it in front of his chest. His attitude couldn't have been clearer.

The rustling of leaves echoed through the forest as multiple elite shinobi from the Anbu rushed toward them.

…

"Such strong chakra fluctuations…"

Yuto opened his window, while gazing toward the cemetery in the distance. He closed his eyes and sensed the area for a moment before suddenly vanishing from his room.

In the next second, he stood on an empty street.

Konoha wasn't known for having much nightlife, so by nightfall, everyone returned home to sleep. When Yuto was still a Konoha shinobi, he enjoyed wandering the streets alone, feeling the night breeze and feeding stray cats.

"I wonder if Obito will survive the night… If he does, I'll just finish him off later. By then, he'll be gravely injured and unable to use Kamui."

(End of Chapter)